Weapons amnesty: Ballarat fourth-highest haul in state

Ballarat police have received one of the largest hand-ins of illegal weapons in Victoria – and they hope more are on the way.

As part of the Victoria Police weapons amnesty running over October and November, police are inviting residents to hand over any unregistered or illegal guns and other weapons during the two-month period to avoid any criminal proceedings.

So far, Ballarat residents have surrendered handguns, shotguns, rifles, knives, a samurai sword and a machete.

With just three weeks to go, police have urged people to hand in any further weapons they might have.

At the end of October, 39 weapons had been handed in to Ballarat police, with only Bendigo (80), Frankston (47) and Ringwood (44) receiving more surrendered weapons.

Ballarat police acting senior sergeant Paul Kinna said all the weapons handed in would be destroyed.

He said police were concerned about all weapons, no matter the type.

“There’s been a certain rise in knife culture in Melbourne, and generally Melbourne trends towards Ballarat,” he said.